Shall We Keep Him
by ItsMadness
Summary: Odin finds an infant on Jötunheim, and decides to keep him. Fluff, Pre-Thor, Oneshot.


**DISCLAIMER****: I do not own Thor, or any characters/situations within. No money is being made from the fan-written work of fiction.**

* * *

The war was over.

Laufey-King knelt before him in surrender, clutching the wound in his side with azure fingers. Odin saw ice slipping from the Jötunn's skin, freezing the blood before it could escape the ragged tear Gungnir had made in his flesh. Laufey would live, but the scar would remain for the rest of his days. In his crimson eyes shone defeat, a weariness that Odin found he shared in his own tired heart. The war had gone on too long, much too long. Valhalla's doors hadn't shut in years as the waves of defeated warriors entered her gilded halls. Winter raged, blizzards covering the land in harsh white snow as the cries of fallen Jötunn warriors howled in the icy wind.

Odin's empty eye socket burned acutely, the cold air having dulled the pain but the shadow, the memory of an eye where there was one no longer seemed to ache more fiercely than the wound itself. His perception of depth was suffering- even now Gungnir strayed a bit too far to the right, away from Laufey's neck. He supposed it did not matter; though his vision suffered, Laufey would be a fool to attack Odin now. He wouldn't, not even if Odin was entirely blind, lame, and dying- morality forbade it. And the Jötnar, for all that the Æsir liked to portray them as monsters, were a proud people with a strict adherence to code and honor.

Laufey-King would not attack, not after surrendering to Odin and the Æsir armies. He'd surrendered the Casket of Ancient Winters, which was being carted away to the Bifröst site that very moment. There was nothing left to keep Odin from going home, to the loving arms of his wife and his infant son.

Nothing, it seemed, save for the small cry at the back of the temple.

Odin's lips parted in confusion, his one remaining eye looking at Laufey, searching for answers. That couldn't be what he thought it was, could it? There couldn't be a baby, in the middle of the wreckage of battle...

Laufey's expression was made of stone, betraying not a hint of emotion. Odin frowned deeply, pulling Gungnir away from the ruined King, assured that he would not make an attempt to flee or attack. He walked towards the rubble, his booted feet falling on the ice with heavy thuds. A pile of rock lay in one corner of the temple, and it was underneath that Odin could hear the muffled wails of a child.

He acted on instinct, lifting stones and brushing away pebbles, his one eye wide with horror. He could recall clearly now, the moment during his battle with the Jötnar king, when a shard of ice deflected a spell from Gungnir, striking the stone column with shattering force. He'd paid no heed at the time, but now he felt acutely the spasm of dread settling into the pit of his stomach at the realization:

_He'd buried a child_.

It seemed like for every dark stone he lifted, two more lay underneath. His fingers were dusty with grit, the fine black pebbles scraping the callouses of his fingers with every brush of his hands. Odin cared not, moving with haste, determined to free the child beneath the stone.

His fingers brushed a hard, rounded barrier, meeting resistance yet he couldn't see the source. He was touching air, but it did not yield to him, and Odin spared one baffled exhale before brushing away the rest of the rock. It rolled off an invisible dome, and once the dust cleared he could see what lay underneath.

A tiny Jötunn babe, unclothed and shivering. Its' eyes were shut tight in a wail, small arms flailing and legs kicking in distress. It was small, perhaps even more so than Thor as a newborn, but there was no mistaking the azure hue of its' skin and the unmistakeable clan lines marking its' forehead and limbs.

_Laufey's son..._

He could not reach the babe, for the barrier that had kept the infant safe from the rocks would not bend to his touch. He glanced over his shoulder, sending the Jötunn king a bewildered look.

"Laufey, what is this?" Odin barked over the infant's cries.

The King raised one eyebrow, still kneeling on the floor of the temple. His gravelly words dripped with contempt- and some amusement.

"Does there exist no children among the Æsir, Óðinn-King?"

The Allfather ignored the mocking in Laufey's voice, looking back towards the baby. It was still screaming, but its' cries were growing softer, the child wearing itself out. It was plain to see that it was ill- though why, Odin was not sure. The shield around it remained strong.

"Why is it here?" Odin inquired, trying to understand. "It- _he_ -is your child."

Laufey chuckled, stone grating on stone. "I sired it. That is all. No get of mine could be so weak. Fragile."

The Allfather hid his disgust, but barely. "You left him here to die? Intentionally?"

Red eyes narrowed coldly. "It would never have survived its' first winter. Not even in the most prosperous of years, and certainly not _now_, among a war-ravaged society and a dying realm. There would be no hope for it, in the end."

Odin raised a skeptical eyebrow, glancing towards the tiring infant. He felt the strong urge to reach towards him, wrap the baby in his cloak. He frowned, noticing how the icy floor of the temple had thawed around the child's form, revealing the stone underneath. He tested the temperature of the air above the magical barrier, and noted how the biting chill of Jötunheim seemed less around the shield. In fact, the air just above the barrier seemed almost warm- toasty, even.

"There is no need to keep the barrier steady any longer, Laufey. The battle is over."

The king of Jötunheim offered Odin an incredulous glance. "I did not cast it."

Odin blinked at that, eyebrows pulling together in thought. Had the baby done it, perhaps as an instinctual protection against the avalanche of stone that had fallen upon it? The Allfather was no seiðmaðr; the Odinforce offered enough magical power to aid him in battle, but it lacked the intricacies of sorcery. Still, he drew upon his limited knowledge of seiðr, testing the barrier with his magical senses. It was a strong web of power, beginning and ending with the child beneath. He picked at the fine strings of magic, clumsily unraveling the net as quick as he could, for the child made an unconscious attempt at fixing anything the Allfather removed.

Eventually the task was complete, and he lifted the child into his arms. He stopped wailing, but whether that was out of exhaustion or Odin's presence was unclear. The child's skin began to change, clan lines fading and azure skin morphing to faint pink and alabaster. The child seemed to be unaware of the shift, though it was not of Odin's doing. He marveled at the power displayed by the tiny infant, and felt the faintest twitch of a smile pulling at his lips.

"Abomination..." Laufey grumbled, but he was largely ignored by the Allfather who continued to stare, enamored, at the baby.

He suddenly possessed an idea- a reckless, impulsive notion- and wrapped the child in his cape, holding him to his armored chest. "I'm taking him with me. If you will not give the child a chance, then I shall."

Laufey stared at Odin, then the child, for a moment before he jerked his head away with a growl. "Do what you will. I care not."

Odin turned away from the Jötunn king, shielding the babe against the wind. He walked away, towards the Bifröst site, and stared at the child in pleased fascination.

"Come now, little one. It is time to return home."

By the time the Allfather reached Asgard, the baby that was Loki had fallen fast asleep.

* * *

"Well Frigga, shall we keep him?"

His wife gently took the infant from Odin's armored arms, rocking the sleeping child gently as a healer tended to Odin's eye wound.

"Fool," she murmured, but her tone was affectionate and soft. She brushed the baby's pale cheek, smiling as his eyelashes fluttered.

"Yes... I think we shall."

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to write my own take on the day Odin found Loki in Jötunheim. I don't know if it's any good or not, but I figured I might as well share it anyway.**

**Kudos to anyone who noticed the allusion to mythology!Loki's God of Fire moniker. **


End file.
